POLICE seized a massive haul of drugs after raiding a cannabis factory at a house in Swindon yesterday morning.

Teams of police swooped on a house in Queens Drive after receiving a tip off from a member of the public.

They found more than 600 plants with a street value of about £180k and filled two skips with the plants, soil, fertiliser and other equipment used for growing them.

Days before the raid the police helicopter was sent up with a thermal imaging camera, which revealed a significant heat source coming from the end of terrace house.

PC Rachel Barnett said: “We really have hit gold on this one.

“The house was full of cannabis plants and it was obvious that there was someone living there as well.

“They had packed the plants into every room and there was a very sophisticated system of irrigation and lighting too.”

A team of about 10 police officers broke into the house using a battering ram, more commonly known as a ‘red key’ by police.

An officer, accompanied by an electrician from Southern Electric, checked that the house was safe for the other officers to enter.

The operation is part of a crack down by Wiltshire Police on cannabis factories in Swindon.

Over the last six months the force has raided an average of one factory a week across the town and surrounding area.

PC Barnett said: “These cannabis factories push out a massive turnover of cannabis onto the streets. Each of the plants can be cultivated every three months.

“It’s not just the drug dealing that is the problem, there is also a huge amount of connected crime such as people trafficking and prostitution.

“I would appeal to members of the public if they see anything suspicious: houses boarded up, no signs of light getting in or strange comings and goings, to get in touch with us, because that’s how they can help us close them down.”

l A Vietnamese man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of cultivating cannabis and was questioned by police through an interpreter.